Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-12-30

lttilE u IillLlsdIg baLl.
CHAPTER LII.-ABOCT THE BALL.
"And how can one get up a ball in a
stupid little hole Of place in which there
are not 4 dozen eligible girlss"
do know, Pm sure; but BeaureGard
and Mrs FanshGwe have set their minds
on it, 50 it'll be managed SOmch0uc.'
The speakers were a couple Of young Of
ficers who were sitting smoking By an open
window looking on the parade ground ut
bennington Barracks The winiow BE-
longed to the sitting room of Major Frank
Travers' quarters; aud the Major himself,
a Jolly. jovial-looking fellow, with fair hair,
ard light. laughing blue eyes loUaE-d on
one chair with his feet on another. His
companion, seated on the edge Of a table,
was Harry Dallas, lieutenant in the same
regiment, a handsome young fellow Of
Internationally, who had tic5hcd his ward
in the Afghan campaign under Conceal
Roberts
'.Beauregard has set his mimi Oh it, It.
peatcd the Major. Then. my by, | be-
lieve YOU, the plan will BE- carried ont. lie
is the most determined fellow ever MT,
and Mrs Fanshawe will just follow his
Iead-he always gets the women on his
side"
You're jcaIous.' said Dallas, laughing
| for the jolly Major was the last nI2a t. be
guilty Of anything 50 contemplate.
Not l. / shall bless most fcrvcnly the
man who can bring about any excitement
| In a place like this. Why, hang it ALL
| there's nothing 10 do here-n0.hiRJ-
| a theatre, not even Il music hall: the circu-
| lating library has only historical novels,
published between 1919 and 1871. Hhcy
| Crayely offered my man The GoWr.c Plat,
| when | sent him for novel Yesterday.
| The idea of sending men to idle away their
time in such Il rat-holo'
There's lovely country round about"
| observed Dallas, by way Of a sotGttHnI
'Oh! very well for you and Bcauregard;
| you enjoy yourselves when other fellows
are frizzIing; but it's too hot for walking
or riding-and then the evenings"
eyes, the evenings" echoed Harry, tax
| ing a fresh cigar. But the ball>'
ooh. ay, the ball. Well has Beauregard,
| or anyone else, an idea where the girls are
| to come from: So far rs | can at present
make out there are Counting on his
| fingers the rcctor's daughters, two, both
| plain by the way; curate's daughter one,
rather pretty; daughter of another parsoH,
big red house just outside the town, four,
two very pretty; then there are the few
service Neutrality-suspicious. l haven't
counted. Altogether, we shall muster I'M
der twenty girls, two or three young mat
| rons, and half-a-dozen fogys."
Perhaps Mrs. Fanshawc reckons to inl-
port some girls"
Where from? From London in the
height of the season."
The Major groaned at the thought of his
| exile from the gIories of the Metropolitan
June. '"No, no! the recruits must come
from the surrounding Countrywide bulk
of 'cm, at any rate"
Somebody said there We're some very
| good people scattered about in country
seats" said Dallas, thoughtfully.
"Indced! who's somebody? Does he
know these parts?"
II forgot who it was. Oh! Ludlam. He's
a shire man, and he was going up yes
terlay evening to dine at the Generals. SO
dare say he gave Mrs. Fanshawe valuable
information"
Maybe" said the Major graciously,
| "thcre was a council of war Was Bcaure-
| gard mt the Generals, do you know"
NO, | don't know where he was last
night"
Securing the country in search of adj
venture, perhaps"
NO chance of adventure in this awfuliy
civilized countryn replied Harry Dallas,
| rGrftllly Elf they keep Us here long we
shall have to set a few houses and hayricls
on fire for sheer mischief"
! Just then there was knock at the door
Come in!'' cried the Major, and in walk
| ell Lieutenant Ludlam
Halo, old fcllown' exclaimed Traycrs,
with Il wink at Dallas. 'What's up? Any
| news2n
About the ball, you mean?" said Lud-
| lana very Young, somewhat "la-di-da"
| type OF man; but usually voted mot half
| Il bad fellow though much roasted for
| his affections.
"Of course" assented Trayers ard Dallas
| in breath The former added Who
! talks about anything elSe9'
| "Ah, we'll, said Ludlam, seating himself,
! and stroking his upper lip, the mattah is
! pretty we'll settled. There are several good
sets about here-the Rawlings, the Nor
! tons. Overwhelmingly and one or two
| other families-and Mrs. Fanshawe ar
ranged last night to call upon them. So
we shall be bettah Off for partners than
|
"Well dOner' exclaimed Travers, rub
bing his hands land come worse to worse
we must ask some of the girls at the linen
Diapers in the High Street. Very pretty,
two or three of 'em"
You're not serious, MaiOr?" said Lud-
! lam, who never understood joke.
"'Pon my honor, am. Why' turning
| TO Dallas, what lark it would bel How
! Bcaurcgard would turn up his long-de-
seconded nose when he was introduced to
! Miss BombaZinen
Harry laughed uproariously; but LudIam
| looked little Disguised.
! The TIL was a very aristOcratiC regiment
| and held its head high, so that the idea Of
! its inviting employees to its festivities was
a particularly good joke; to which, how
| ever, Travers. seeing that Ludlam took it
! seriously, adhered stoutly; and when at
last the young man took his leave, little
Sttlly, the merry Major nearly fell off his
! chair with laughter
Dallas he sputtered; Dallas, it'll
! Kill me, That fellow has swallowed it
! whole! He'll go and tell Beauregard that
| mean to try and smuggle in milliner's
! girl, Won't Beau chatf him, All, l shall
! have a fit"
| when they were L little Gained down, Har-
~ suggested visit to Beauregard's quar-
tiers, to ascertain If haply that officer was
to be found Eat home'O fuller particulars
! concerning the momentous ball which at
! present occupied so prominent a place in
! the minds of the officers OF the tn
But what are men to dom duh country
towns Though bennington folks consid-
| cred their town rather liyrIv than o+ba--
wise, and some OF the more sober inhabi-
| tants sighed over the presence of a Garri-
| son, and looked askance at scarlet coats
and gold lace, turning the heads of all
! the girls. they said; but withal these good
| people did not forget to make profit out OF
the evil they deprecated. Perhaps they
considered themselves justified in spoil
ing the Egyptians"
To De conunucu.
A =,